#Accessibility Legislation

[akwyz]

AccessibleEU Launch: Revolutionizing Accessibility Across Europe - A Comprehensive Resource for Inclusion

🚀 The #AccessibleEU launch was a game-changer! 🎉 A one-stop-shop for all things accessibility, it's paving the way for a more inclusive Europe. 🌍 Let's celebrate this milestone in #accessibility and #inclusion! 💪 #EuropeForAll

The European Commission launched AccessibleEU, a comprehensive one-stop-shop on accessibility, on July 4, 2023. The event took place at the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels, Belgium, and was also accessible online. AccessibleEU was designed to be a cutting-edge resource for a wide range of actors, including policymakers, legislators, and representatives of accessibility…

[1982brucespringsteen]

some good news!! the spanish state's ministry of equality has finally passed one of the most progressive trans laws on the planet, shielded free and universal access to abortion and banned conversion therapy and genital surgery for intersex babies, among a lot of other feminist policies. the minister of equality irene montero gave a speech thanking spain's lgtb and trans associations for helping her draft these legislations. couldn't be more proud!!

[alwaysbewoke]

A new study by the education watchdog Available to All reveals that school attendance zones and selective admission policies in the U.S. often exclude students of color and low-income families from elite public schools, thereby reinstating levels of segregation reminiscent of 1968. The study criticizes the use of residential addresses for school assignments, which supports "educational redlining" that favors affluent families, leading to systemic inequalities in access to advanced educational programs. Available to All calls for legislative reforms to protect enrollment rights and recommends that school districts minimize the importance of geographical boundaries to combat segregation and improve school access for all. The resurgence of school segregation to levels seen in 1968 is a stark reminder of how deeply systemic inequality is entrenched in our education system. Policies that favor affluent families and perpetuate educational redlining deny many Black and low-income students the opportunity to access quality education.

but listen to the racists and coons, black people are just making shit up and "playing the victim/race card."

[harriswalz4usabybr]

Thursday, August 15, 2024 - Kamala Harris & Tim Walz

The Vice President and Governor Walz joined forces together today on the campaign trail. They were making their way through the state of North Carolina. The Governor of the state, Roy Cooper joined them on the campaign trail today. Today was a busy day with 4 campaign stops.

Event #1 (Raleigh, NC) Event Location: Steps of the North Carolina State Capitol Event Type: Call for Policy Change and Activism Event Time: 9:00 - 10:00 ET

Event #2 (Raleigh, NC) Event Location: North Carolina State University Event Type: Get Out the Vote Event Time: 11:00 - 13:00 ET

Event #3 (Greensboro, NC) Event Location: NC Agricultural & Technical State University Event Type: Interview moderated by a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc, Alpha Phi Chapter Event Time: 15:00 - 17:00 ET

Event #4 (Charlotte, NC) Event Location: Bank of America Stadium Event Type: Campaign Rally Event Time: 19:00 - 22:00 ET

Raleigh, NC Full-text of speech from event #1 to be released shortly. The event on NCSU's campus was well received and numerous student clubs were present for the kick-off of the event.

Greensboro, NC Here are 2 questions that garnered a very positive response from the audience: Q: "In today's environment of racial and identity politics, do you feel that you were forced to pick a white man as your running mate?" A: "No, unequivocally. My decision to choose Coach Walz as my running mate was not influenced by racial or identity politics. It was about finding someone who shares my vision, my values, who has a proven track record of bringing people together to get things done, and can be a little fun while doing it. Tim is an experienced leader, a former educator, and a person who has dedicated his life to public service. I considered many exceptional individuals for this role, including leaders like Governor Whitmer, clearly if I considered a second woman identity politics weren't at play. What mattered most in my decision was finding the right person to help lead this country, someone who understands the challenges we face and who can help unify our nation during these divided times.Moving forward, I hope we can reach a point where questions like this are no longer necessary because our focus should be on qualifications, character, and the ability to lead, not just the identity of the individuals. Tim is the right choice!" Q: "Is HBCU funding for schools like NC A&T a priority for your administration, given your personal background?" A: "Well, let me just say, I think it’s pretty clear where my priorities lie, considering I attended an HBCU myself! I'm thankful for my Howard experience every day. And let’s not forget, my running mate, Governor Walz, is a former educator. So yes, HBCU funding is not just a priority—it’s a personal commitment. HBCUs have played a crucial role in shaping leaders, innovators, and changemakers in our country for generations. They provide not just education but also a sense of community, pride, and identity. Our administration is committed to ensuring that HBCUs have the resources they need to continue their legacy of excellence."

Charlotte, NC Below are one quote from Governor Cooper, one from Governor Walz, and two from Vice President Harris that are from the remarks made at today's rally. "North Carolina is not just a battleground state; it’s the proving ground for our democracy. We’ve been underestimated before, but we know that when we stand together, nothing can stop us. We’re going to fight for every vote, every voice, because the future of our country depends on it. Now let me welcome to the stage the next Vice President of the United States of America, Tim Walz!" - Governor Roy Cooper "We are the underdogs in this race, but we’ve got something far more powerful than any poll or pundit’s prediction: the will of the people. We’re not going back to the days of division and chaos. Together, we’re building a future that unites us, and we’re not backing down from the fight because every American deserves a better tomorrow." - Governor Tim Walz

"Donald Trump is a threat to everything we hold dear—our values, our democracy, our future. But let me tell you this: we are stronger than fear, stronger than hate, and we’re going to prove that in every corner of North Carolina and across this great nation." - Vice President Kamala Harris "We’re not here to make America go back to some imagined ‘great’ past. We’re here to build a future that’s better for everyone. We’re not MAGA, we’re moving forward, and we’re not going to stop until every North Carolinian has a voice in that future. We’re not going back!"- Vice President Kamala Harris

~BR~

[thenoodlesadventures]

Hey guys!

I (and another irl friend) am working on putting together a website that overviews all of the individual state laws on service animals since there's a lot of variance (as always) that makes traveling hard especially if you have a SDiT

I'm reaching out here because we've been slowly chipping away at this for the better part of like 2 years? And it's taking more time than we'd like to get it going since we both run and operate our own businesses

If anyone is willing to help that would be very appreciated but also:

I'd love suggestions on the kinds of things that are really important for you to be able to find quickly!

We've decided to highlight the following info in a "quick view" and then everything else will be tucked into its own tab for that state:

SDiT covered or not

Animals that can be used as service animals

Owner training covered or not

Let me know what you guys think!

[defira85]

on GOD I finally passed the medical legal exam after two weeks

I'm just gonna lay here on the ground wheezing for a bit

[coffincoitus]

I love you legal loopholes that make mushrooms perfectly legal to buy online. I hate you how ridiculously expensive it is tho </3

[toytulini]

god im not starting shit on the post but "medical and pharmaceutical companies thank you for your long term patronage" really does not work as a thing to shame anti maskers. this is not a system i get to opt out of even by masking. unfortunately, i really dont think masking is pwning the predatorily priced healthcare system in the usa. especially considering how many of the ppl who are still doing it are unfortunately beholden to it anyway for some other fucking reason. fuck, even if i didnt have medications i take everyday anyway, the company i buy n95s from is a fucking medical /surgical supply company? its such a weird. just. no.

[autonom-us-project]

Speak Up: Email or Call Your Elected Official!

When we elect our representatives into office, they have a duty to represent the interests of us, the voters. A simple and free way to do this is by contacting them when we have concerns or feel they aren’t acting in our best interests. Especially in states with restrictive reproductive healthcare laws, voicing your concerns via email or phone ensures your voice is heard. Remember, these officials work for you, the constituents who put them in office to begin with!

If you need help getting started, check out the links below for some scripts you can use to write up your message to your state’s elected officials. 

Find Your Representative

This tool from the US House of Representatives will help you locate your representative based on your ZIP code, and provide their website and contact information.

Emailing Your Legislators 101

This resource from Planned Parenthood outlines in detail where to locate your representative’s contact information, tips for how to structure your message, and where that email goes after you send it. Additionally, it provides an email template at the bottom for added guidance. 

ACLU- Defend Reproductive Freedom Now

This page from the ACLU provides another helpful template for crafting your message to the Senator or Representative of your state.  

[not-poignant]

Looking forward to the new chapter of UtB! Also I learn a lot hearing your thoughts on fandom culture, and I was wondering why you think puritanism is getting stronger? Lately I’ve experienced it a lot both online and irl.

Hi anon,

I could write like a 10,000 word essay on why I think moral puritanism is getting stronger in the world, and how that intersects with increased moral panic, and 'anti' or fancop behaviour among fandom.

But I think there's more than one reason, and that at the centre of it, is the radicalisation of political extremes alongside the disdain for human life and education in the USA specifically. In non English-speaking cultures, antis are often considered a uniquely American phenomenon, for example. (They're not, but I do think some of the problems start there).

And from there it's necessary to look at:

The high presence of evangelist religion and their millions in USA politics in particular, and the influence this has on the news and government systems from the top down, affecting legislation, what we see on the media, what gets censored, who gets impacted (SESTA/FOSTA etc.) and so on. When companies like Paypal or similar say they won't support certain sites because they don't support sex workers or explicit artwork, we see extremist perspectives being normalised into the mainstream. Puritanism becomes baked into the system, and accepted as normal. And it has a domino effect, taking one thing away usually means to another thing being taken away, and by 'one thing' I usually mean like... equality, access to basic human rights, and more.

The presence of certain billionaire TERFs in UK politics actively working to destroy legislation over there gives a platform to hateful, bigoted extremists of all kinds, including Nazis (as seen in Australia recently, during a TERF event where Nazis turned up in open support). Also, I'd like to add that a lot of anti/fancop thinking is generally SWERF, anti-kink and eventually TERF in nature, and often homophobic and transphobic even when it's perpetuated by queer folk.

A long-term attack (we're talking over several decades now) on education (especially the humanities and any area that teaches critical thinking) including gutting the funding to libraries, colleges, high schools, primary schools and not increasing the pay of teachers, decreasing the general intelligence of US citizens in IQ tests across multiple metrics (except spatial reasoning). This, combined with the lack of emphasis on teaching nuance and critical thinking, means you get people primed to make didactic, black-or-white decisions and often are prone to radicalisation and black-or-white thinking. There's an increasing lack of ability to understand complex or even reasonably moderately complex thinking tasks. A great example of this was re: anti-vaxxers who said 'if masking works so well, why do you need vaccines' because there was a complete inability to understand that just because something works well, doesn't mean it works 100% of the time. There was a consistent inability too, to grok things like the swiss cheese model. That's not the only reason people are anti-vaxxers and there are some extremely smart people who are anti-vaxxers, but among broader populations, a lack of basic appreciation of nuance and risk mitigation in health was a huge issue. (And it's fairly easy to see this happening in many fandom discussions when we discuss how racism in fiction is generally not great, but that rape in fiction does not cause rape in reality.)

I know the above paragraph is long and unwieldy but it doesn't actually come close to capturing a lot of my thoughts on this so slafkjdsa it'll have to do though. The tl;dr is 'the government said philosophy and critical thinking isn't worth money, so a lot of people don't know how to do it, and anyone who can do it is often attacked or viewed with suspicion' (see also: The increasing suspicion and hostility towards experts in their field x.x). (Oh see also: A lot of people thinking YouTube videos count as 'valid research' for their viewpoints, and a lot of folks just...not ever learning how to research in general).

Something something social media privileging inflammatory and provocative takes as well as clickbait etc. encouraging people to often say things in the worst or least nuanced way possible.

The systemic attacks on democratic processes in the USA (and the UK and Australia and many other places).

The loudest and most obnoxious voices are often the people saying the stupidest shit. As in: It will feel like puritans are everywhere (and there's definitely more of them), but they're also just louder and getting more attention than they used to. It's misleading. Anti-vaxxers are actually a tiny minority for example, and antis are a minority in fandom, they're just...the loudest and the most willing to try and murder real people to defend the rights of fictional characters.

Er so. That's some of it anyway. There's more, absolutely, because I could talk about the presence of puritanism in a lot of levels of our experience/s, whether you're religious or not.

It's frustrating writing about this because I fall into the same trap of knowing that I can't talk about this in as nuanced a way as I want to, even if I get to do it in 1000 words instead of like, a miserable amount of characters on Twitter. Anyone thinking 'but it's not always like that!' or 'but not in every situation!' like trust me, I know. But if I sat here caveating everything that deserves a good caveat this post would blow out even more.

Basically if you try to stop educating your people as much, don't teach them how to research, debate or learn (yes, you have to learn how to learn), and don't give them access to basic needs, and gut your democracy/s, and the people at the top believe a fictional being cares if they're virgins or not or have abortions or not, and you don't care if people commit genocide against the children of your nation because that's not as important as the right to kill them in a moment of anger..., and you create a world where the children of your nation are primed to develop PTSD due to the fear of being gunned down while learning, you create a really great environment for radicalisation, extremism, the safety and comfort of puritanism (i.e. following very strict rules in the hope of fixing what's wrong with the world) while people look for a solution to why they feel so empty and hopeless in their lives.

[transingthoseformers]

OPTIMUS

Optimus if you do this I will kiss you on the mouth, holy shit mech this is amazing

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

having complex feelings about gender stuff recently but i don't really know how to put it into words. some of it is about the self-erasure that becomes necessary when you try and talk about medical misogyny you've experienced as someone who isn't a woman but who is perceived by the world as one. some of it is about no longer feeling connected to female-centred stories of a kind you used to enjoy as a teenager because they always feel alienating but also not liking your own emotions about that because you should be able to enjoy stories that weren't written for you, it's just that they don't feel like stories that even allow space for you to exist in. but shouldn't men be able to enjoy women's stories too? but you're not a man. but you're not a woman. but the stories are about and for people who look like you but you're not one of them. but you would have been them if you lived in those worlds because nobody would have seen a difference, and that's viscerally uncomfortable, and impossible to enjoy--

and some of it is about looking for stories you could exist in and only finding stories that are profoundly unrelatable because they're only ever about characters who knew they were trans since puberty and had access to transition care in their teens and you didn't figure it out until adulthood and also that's not legally available in your country so that would never have been on the cards in the first place. or people who figured it out in adulthood but they're so certain and they're so ready to take risks and they'll change the world for a chance to become themselves because they know what they're aiming for. some of it is not being sure what you want but knowing you'll always have to be certain about it enough to fight for it because you're not going to get it any other way. some of it is not wanting to be an activist, not wanting to agitate, not wanting to have to resist every goddamn second bc you're just trying to exist in the world, but the only way anyone will ever give you a modicum of what you need is if you put all your energy into the struggle for it--

some of it is about feeling an ongoing tether to the experience of being a woman in a bad way but no tether to the experience in a good way and there's a weird kind of mourning in that, and a self denial, and an inability to reconcile your own contradictions in a way that feels comfortable. some of it is about feeling pressure to experience gender differently and to opt in to something else if you're going to opt out of what you were given but you don't want to do that either. and a lot of it is constantly self-policing your own emotions and thoughts and being convinced you're doing it all wrong somehow because you see other people being so free with their genderfuck, so unencumbered by expectations, so easily able to get it right for themselves and other people, and you're still misgendering yourself half the time in your mind because you don't even know what the right words would be at this point when you still have scars shaped like being a girl even though you're not a girl and you can't talk about them without doing yourself another piece of damage

like. i am who i am because i was thought a girl and maybe because i thought i was a girl and maybe i still don't understand why i'm not a girl but in my not-girlness i no longer feel i have any access to any kind of womanhood that doesn't hurt but i don't want to police myself out of femininity just because it isn't all that i am anymore

[harriswalz4usabybr]

Speech Kamala Harris gave at the North Carolina State Capitol!

~BR~

[ivygorgon]

AN OPEN LETTER to THE PRESIDENT & U.S. CONGRESS; STATE GOVERNORS & LEGISLATURES

Act Now: Save Public Transit from Extinction!

2 so far! Help us get to 5 signers!

I am writing to highlight the critical state of public transit in the United States and urge your support increased investment in this essential service. The challenges facing public transit—under-investment, over-reliance on car ownership, and racial disparities—have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is imperative that we take bold action to address these issues for the benefit of our communities and our future.

Investing in public transit is not merely a matter of convenience; it is a necessity for tackling climate change, advancing equity, supporting essential workers, and fostering economic recovery. The largest source of carbon emissions in the U.S. stems from transportation, and increased investment in public transit can significantly reduce this impact. Furthermore, public transit plays a crucial role in providing equitable access to jobs, schools, and services, especially for those who cannot afford or do not have access to private vehicles.

With over 2.8 million essential workers relying on public transit, our pandemic response and economic recovery hinge on the strength and viability of our transit systems. According to studies, sustained investment in public transportation yields substantial economic returns, with every $1 billion invested annually resulting in approximately $5 billion in additional GDP.

I commend initiatives like the Green New Deal for Transportation and efforts by organizations such as the CHARGE coalition to electrify and expand public transportation. These initiatives are pivotal in shaping a more sustainable and equitable transportation system for all Americans.

Therefore, I urge you to support emergency relief funding for public transit and join the movement to rebuild and improve our public transit system. This is not just an investment in infrastructure; it is an investment in our collective future.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. I look forward to your support in advancing policies that will ensure a robust and accessible public transit system for all.

📱 Text SIGN PZHBAF to 50409

🤯 Liked it? Text FOLLOW IVYPETITIONS to 50409

💘 Q'u lach' shughu deshni da. 🏹 "What I say is true" in Dena'ina Qenaga

[agoddamn]

In honor of the latest American mass shooting, I am here to beg you not to support shit like this:

This happens after every goddamn massacre and I'm getting more and more concerned about how pushback against it seems to die down every time.